Where Do We Agree?

Is there anywhere in the political arena the American people agree? Or has it all become “knee jerk” politics so whenever a Democrat says something a Republican disagrees and visa versa?  Here are some areas I think we can all agree:

·         Gas prices are too high

·         Too much debt is dangerous to our future

·         The political process is broken

·         Government workers making much more than the people paying the bills is not right

·         College tuition is close to being unaffordable

These are a few areas I think most Americans could agree and have little dispute. The problem comes when you ask the question: How do we fix it?

Defining problems is the easy part of politics. Implementing solutions is the impossible task. Let’s take these in order.

How do we bring the price of gas down? The left will say we have to get away from oil for environmental reasons. Meanwhile they stop the expansion of nuclear power plants that could reduce the dependency of cities and towns across the nation on fossil fuels. But they don’t like nuclear either. They want us to use solar and wind but you can’t power an economy on such unreliable sources of energy.

We have more oil than Saudi Arabia in our country but the left doesn’t want us drilling to get it. We could increase the supply 200 fold but they want us off oil. We will never get off of oil in my lifetime.

The way the right wants to reduce gas prices is to increase supply. That is the way to go about it and the right supports alternatives but they know the reality of alternatives is years away. In the meantime we are not “destroying” the environment. We are destroying the economy.

The debt has a simple solution; reduce spending to equal revenue. The Left wants to raise taxes on the “rich.” This sounds great but will make no difference to reducing the debt. The only spending they will cut is “corporate loopholes.” Everything else is sacred.

For the right they want to eliminate federal programs that are not defined in the Constitution. It is a moral and Constitutional argument. Individual liberty with some safety nets for the truly needy and an end to the generational dependency.

Corruption has taken over our politicians and the process. Morality is gone and we have only self- interested people running for office with a political agenda that fuels the divisive environment. The solution is to get rid of the party system.

Government workers pay and benefits should be tied to their private sector counter parts. I think everyone agrees except for the government workers and union bosses.

College tuition will go down when the government stops subsidizing it. The easy access to college along with easy access to student loans is driving the price through the roof. Get the government out and prices will plummet. We also need to re-define the industries which need a college degree. Too many degrees do not prepare students for work. Which may be OK but students and parents need to know that going in. An English degree will make you a better writer but it may not land you a high paying job.

There are many things we agree upon but trying to fix them remains the biggest political problem we face…